This invention relates to a process to maintain the original physical condition of seafood fillets throughout processing, handling, and distribution. The process prevents physical deformation of seafood fillets and preserves physical appearance, including flat cut surfaces, sharp corners, curved corners, and natural contours. Furthermore, the biological characteristics of the fillets are preserved including meat color, texture, moisture retention, and microbial shelf life, These characteristics are the vital signs, or xe2x80x9cvitalityxe2x80x9d, of the fresh seafood fillets, and their preservation make the fillets appear as if they were recently cut from a fresh whole fish.
This invention is uniquely valuable in processing large-size seafood species that require extensive cutting, which results in a high percentage of exposed cut surfaces, varying shapes, and corners. These delicate areas of the seafood meat are vulnerable to damage. The present invention utilizes a plurality of rigid supports to prevent damage to the exposed surfaces and corners. In addition, shipping such rigidly supported seafood meat with the inedible portions removed substantially reduces transportation and processing costs, and allows the product to be distributed more expeditiously upon receipt.
The primary seafood species to be processed are tuna, swordfish and other seafood that tend to lose their vitality after filleting during distribution without the process described herein. Although this process is primarily intended for use with fresh seafood fillets, it can also be used to preserve the vitality of fresh loins that are subsequently frozen as well as for other foods.
Fresh tuna are typically traded in a whole condition to preserve the quality of the fish. However, the high cost of airfreight increases the cost to the end consumer for the net yield of edible fillet. Previous attempts to economize air transportation cost by filleting tuna at distant supply sources and shipping it to the U.S. market have resulted in damaged, defective, and inferior quality product that is unacceptable to U.S. tuna buyers. It is the object of my invention to overcome these defects such that high quality tuna loins processed at the supply source can compete with fresh domestic cut loins, at a substantial cost savings and convenience to the wholesaler, retailer and consumer.
Therefore, it is the intention of my process to preserve the vitality of the seafood, so that the loins after transportation and distribution appear similar to loins immediately after being cut from whole fish. This invention further relates to an apparatus and process that provides a supporting means to maintain the natural bodily structure of the fillets and a subsequent process to preserve the seafood color, texture, and biological condition, thus preventing premature deterioration and decomposition.
My process controls all aspects, including physical, aesthetic, and biological attributes, so that the packaged fresh loins maintain their fresh condition after processing, transporting, storage and distribution. Further, it was discovered unexpectedly that the process of this invention extends beyond preservation into restoration of physically damaged product. Through experimentation it was found that miss-cut, or otherwise physically defective fillets can be repaired by using my supporting means to reform the damaged fillets into their original fresh-like structure, thus reviving freshly cut appearance.
With the increasing consumption of seafood throughout the world, there is a need for new technologies to preserve the vitality of seafood fillets, particularly the fresh physical condition of the fillets so that they appear freshly cut throughout transportation, storage, and distribution.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process where the physical shape of a filleted seafood segment resembles the physical shape of the same seafood segment when freshly cut from the whole fish.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a supporting means made of at least two rigid supports to maintain the fresh-like bodily structure of seafood fillets.
It is a further object of this invention to employ a plurality of rigid supports to maintain the flatness of flat cut surfaces, the sharpness of the cut corners, the curve of curved corners, and the contours of contoured surfaces of the fillet.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a supporting means with two rigid supports that intersect to form a fitted joint to maintain and reform the fillet corners.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a supporting means with one rigid support and a flexible plastic membrane that intersect to form a semi-fitted joint to maintain the corners of the fillet.
It is a still further object of this invention to fix or adjust the angles of the rigid intersecting supports to be parallel with flat cut seafood surfaces that intersect to form corners.
It is a still further object of this invention to protect the flat cut seafood surfaces with the rigid supports and to protect the seafood corners with the corners formed by the intersecting rigid supports.
It is a still further object of this invention to position two rigid supports of the supporting means at perpendicular angles to one another forming a V shaped trough that accommodates varying sizes of loins and provides cross member support to increase strength of the supporting means.
It is a still further object of this invention to mate a loin into a V shaped trough and to eliminate space between the loin and the surfaces of trough, without substantially distorting the loin.
It is a still further object of this invention to repair physically damaged seafood by forming flat cut surfaces or sharp corners with the supporting means.
It is still a further object of this invention to incorporate a plurality of rigid supports into a vacuum pouch to form a supporting means unit.
It is a still further object of this invention to use a jig to prop the supporting means during assembly.
It is a still further object of this invention to incorporate fasteners within the supporting means that hold the rigid supports in a fixed position.
It is a still further object of this invention to vacuum seal a plastic membrane to a plurality of rigid supports containing seafood fillets.
It is a still further object of this invention to expose fillets to a gas containing carbon monoxide, such as tasteless smoke, to maintain fresh-like color, prevent oxidation, and extend microbial shelf life.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a supporting means with at least two tapered sides forming a V to hold a fillet with two tapered sides forming a V, and to nest the outer V of the fillet into the inner V of the supporting means, such that the tapers of the V of the supporting means and the V of the fillet are substantially the same, and the support will accommodate varying sizes of fillets.
It is a still further object of this invention to treat the fillets with a liquid solution to stabilize color, inhibit bacteriological growth, and extend the microbial shelf life.
It is still a further objective of this invention to provide an absorbent means to prevent discoloration, staining and decomposition at the surface of the seafood fillet.
It is still a further objective of this invention to incorporate a temperature-monitoring device to constantly monitor the temperature of the seafood fillet.
It is still a further objective of this invention to fillet seafood at foreign fisheries resources to reduce airfreight cost, but without reducing the quality of the seafood fillets.
For centuries, seafood has been consumed cooked in the U.S. and around the world. Seafood is both cooked and consumed raw as a staple food in the Japanese diet. The Japanese sashimi market draws the highest price among all seafood markets. Red color tuna meat with a fresh-like physical condition draws the highest price in both the U.S. and Japan Tuna is the primary species consumed raw for sashimi. Japanese imports of tuna increased three times in quantity and five times in value from 1984 to 1993. The increase in value is directly associated with the demand for imported tuna needed to supply the Japanese sashimi market.
The popularity of sashimi in the Japanese xe2x80x9cBubble Economyxe2x80x9d of the late 80""s and early 90""s fueled an expansion of sashimi tuna distribution deep into the Japan retail market, including even the smallest of convenience stores. The huge size of the Japanese market for high value sashimi tuna offered its suppliers the convenience of distributing as much product as could be produced through the Japanese auction system, which retains only a modest marketing fee. The stability and convenience of this market, combined with the speed and reliability of payment from the auctions, provided an opportunity that was very attractive to many investors who foresaw the future expansion of the sashimi industry in Japan.
This opportunity spurred large-scale investment by Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese to expand tuna fishing fleets to supply the Japanese market During this period over 500 vessels were launched to fish sashimi tuna in the Pacific. New satellite fisheries bases were established and existing fisheries operations were expanded. These new fisheries bases were largely set up in island communities throughout the Pacific that had unexploited long line tuna stocks, proximity to Japan, and reliable airfreight service at reasonable prices to the Japan auction markets.
As an offshoot of the Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese development of new fisheries bases, domestic Japanese fleets began to develop, further increasing the supply capacity of tuna from the Pacific destined for Japan. However, from 1995 to 1999 the xe2x80x9casian economic crisisxe2x80x9d severely impacted the Japanese economy, resulting in a dramatic decrease in the value of the Yen. This weakening of the Japanese economy, combined with the increase of raw tuna supply to Japan, caused periodic decreases in the price for raw tuna in the Japanese auction market.
At the same time, the U.S. economy remained stable and the market demand and price for high quality fresh tuna increased. The numbers of sushi bars, Japanese restaurants and American restaurants serving sashimi has dramatically increased over the past five years. Fresh tuna is among the fastest growing seafood in U.S. retail and food service markets. Recent U.S. market prices for high quality tuna with bright red color have increased to levels that are often competitive with prices in Japan.
C. J. S. Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 2,776,215, Jan. 1, 1957 discloses a process to wrap eviscerated fish against a flat base member (claim 1) whereas the stiff base element reinforces the packaged product from distortion (column 2, line 47.) However, Thomas"" invention is directed towards eviscerated fish (claim 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11) and not cut fish fillets. Thomas teaches against the present invention by compressing the curved surface of an eviscerated fish against a flat base plate element. Therefore, Thomas distorts the curved meat surface by conforming it to the contacting flat surface of a base plate element column 4, line 60. The present invention is limited to contacting flat cut surfaces of the food against flat rigid surfaces of the package, thereby avoiding the distortion of Thomas.
Further, the base element of Thomas is a single-plane, one-dimensional support for whole foods, while the supporting means of the present invention is a multiple-plane, three dimensional support with specified joints for cut food.
G. A. Mixon, U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,272, Jun. 10, 1972 teaches a packing method to preserve meat products wherein all the meat portions are of substantially the same size and weight (column 1, line 37.) However, the present invention is directed towards cut foods that vary in size.
Peters, U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,812, Apr. 8, 1975 utilizes a novel container with a hammock for transporting and roasting meats. However, Peters"" method is only applicable to meats that can be roasted (column 1, line 46.) It is unconventional to roast fish. Further, Peters fails to incorporate flat rigid supports against the product and eliminate airspace between the package and the product.
Comer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,211, Nov. 17, 1992 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,605, Dec. 2, 1999 both teach the use of plastic caps (abstract.) Comer clearly teaches against my invention which is limited to boneless meats.
Boggs, U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,920, introduces a bag device for preserving and packing game fish. However, Boggs is directed towards whole fish and he fails to incorporate flat rigid supports to protect flat cut fillet surfaces and corner (abstract.)
U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,855 by Cook, Jr. et al. teaches against the present invention by promoting deformation of fillets within the recesses of his package abstract.
No one to date has created a method to preserve the physical condition of fresh fillets during handling, transportation, and distribution. Yet, huge resources of fresh tuna from the Pacific region have developed as potential supply for the U.S. market. However, these Pacific locations are very far from the U.S. and airfreight cost is very high.
It has been conventional to transport fresh tuna by airfreight in the whole condition to preserve the quality of the fish. Holding high-grade tuna in a whole condition is very effective in maintaining the fresh-like physical condition of the meat However, the high cost of airfreight imposes a substantial cost burden that results in a higher consumer cost for the edible filleted portions of the whole fish. Filleting the tuna at the foreign fisheries resource before shipping can substantially decrease the airfreight cost, but this has not been viable until now because the fillets could not be successfully shipped to U.S. markets.
Thus, the U.S. seafood industry has been limited to using only fillets cut from whole tuna domestically. Some disadvantages to distributing whole fish rather than loins are:
1. Supply resources of fresh tuna are widely dispersed around the world, often very far from the primary market locations. Thus, whole fish is typically transported by costly airfreight. Import, export and domestic delivery of whole fish by airfreight substantially add to the cost of the yield of useable meat after filleting.
2. The U.S. is the primary market for xe2x80x9cstealingxe2x80x9d grade fresh tuna However, the majority of fresh tuna consumed in the U.S. is imported from foreign resources. The labor and processing costs at these foreign supply sources is generally much less than in the U.S.
3. Processing whole fish into loins domestically can restrict the speed of distribution, thus burdening the quality of service provided to the customer. Further, delays in distribution can cause financial hardship in a falling market or if the fresh product is held over weekends and holidays.
It is difficult to maintain peak vitality of fresh seafood fillets because of wear-and-tear from handling that damages the delicate fillets during their lengthy delivery through the various distribution channels to the consumer. These fillets commonly endure seven to ten days of handling during which time damage occurs. Fish are handled whole because the delicate meat is kept intact by the skeletal structure of the fish and protected by the skin of the fish Filleting tuna into loins eliminates these natural safeguards and exposes the delicate meat to both physical and biological damage. By contrast, my light-weight supporting structure replaces the heavy skeletal structure and provides equal or greater protection to the meat with the economies and added benefits described herein.
Therefore, previous processes prior to my invention have been ineffective in protecting the vitality of fillets throughout processing, handling, transportation, and distribution.
My process is a unique method that preserves the appearance of fresh cut tuna loins packed to a maximum density for transportation, handling, and storage without damaging the physical condition of the loins. The fresh cut condition of my fresh loins is preserved, including the physical shape, meat color, and microbial shelf life.
In my invention, the freshly cut physical characteristics of tuna fillets are maintained by packing the loin segments in a supporting means with a plurality of rigid supports that maintains the natural shape of the loin. Additionally, an absorbent means is preferably incorporated to maintain surface condition of the meat, further enhancing the loin appearance. Gas treatments containing carbon monoxide such as tasteless smoke and/or liquid treatments can be applied to even further influence a desirable meat color and extend the microbial shelf life of the fillets. A packaged fresh tuna loin appearing freshly cut from a whole fish provides a higher value product; potentially at lower prices than domestically cut tuna loins, due to savings in costly labor and airfreight.
The fresh cut physical condition of tuna loins is maintained by placing rigid supports against the cut sides of the loin. For purposes of this invention, xe2x80x9crigidxe2x80x9d is defined as having sufficient stiffness to hold the shape of the seafood meat. The flat surfaces of the rigid supports are fixed or adjusted to replicate the angles of the cut fillets. For tuna loins, two rigid supports are positioned at angles to one another to form a V with a corner where they meet. Additional rigid supports can be added intersecting with the first two rigid supports to form additional V""s with additional corners. The rigid supports maintain the flatness of the cut sides of the loin, and the V shape protects the corners and allows for varying sizes of fillets. Since some corners of fillets are curved, the intersection of the V shaped rigid supports can be curved to mate with the curved surfaces of the fillet. Various methods can be used to form the curved intersection such as bending, folding, or attaching the rigid supports at a curved angle; filling the inside of a pointed V intersection with a rigid material to match the curve of the fillet corner; or using a soft material that will form to the curve of the fillet corner.
Fitted joints are created where two rigid supports intersect. Semi-fitted joints are created where rigid supports intersect with a flexible membrane such as a plastic vacuum bag material. Capped joints are created where the inside of a fitted joint with a sharp V intersection is filled with a material to curve the joint. Fitted, semi-fitted, and capped joints maintain and protect the corners from damage.
The physical muscle structure of fresh tuna is delicate. Processing whole fish into intricately cut loin sections substantially increases its vulnerability to damage. Tuna loins have a triangular cross section and are tapered at both ends. The varying size and irregular shape of tuna loins are such that they do not seat well against each other in a carton. Thus, once the loin is removed from the skeletal structure of the fish, it is difficult to package and handle without causing damage to the loin. In addition, the delicate fresh tuna meat can be damaged or deformed during processing and by vacuum packing.
My invention is an improvement over conventional bags, boxes, and other processes. The rigid supports provide the protection of the walls of a box, while excluding the disadvantages of bulk, conformity, and contortion to the product. The flexible membrane provides the flexibility of bag without distorting the flat surfaces and corners. The present invention is distinctively unique because:
it accommodates varying sizes of product;
there is substantially no empty space within the packing unit;
curved surfaces of the food avoid contact with flat rigid surfaces or corners of the package; and
flat surfaces and corners of the food avoid, or have substantially minimal contact with flexible surfaces of the package.
It is conventional to vacuum pack seafood for sanitary handling. However, conventional vacuum packing damages delicate tuna meat by rounding and deforming the cut corner areas. The exposed corners of the loin are the most susceptible areas to damage. The meat at the corner of the loin where the two cut sides meet the center of the fish is the softest area of the fish. The present invention uses a plurality of rigid supports to form joints that protect these corners from damage and deformation. Further, it was discovered unexpectedly that fitted joints can reform damaged or deformed corners, restoring the loin to its original fresh cut appearance. Such fine detailing of the intricate edge work of the loin gives a valuable fresh cut appearance, which combined with cost savings, enhances the packaged loin""s ability to compete with domestically cut loins.
My loin process is suitable for cost efficient assembly line production and provides an opportunity to utilize lower cost foreign labor. Discarding the trimming waste before shipping reduces airfreight cost. Reduced processing and delivery costs results in a lower and more competitive market price.
Fresh fish is typically air-flown from foreign resources such as the Pacific fisheries to the U.S. on ice in H and G form a whole fish with the head, guts, tail, fins, and gills removed. The present estimated cost to net fish weight ratio for airfreight from South East Asia is approximately $1.92/lb. About 53% of this fish will be lost during filleting into loins so the per pound airfreight, calculated on the basis of edible tuna, increases to $4.09/lb. The resulting economic benefit of my invention allows higher grades of fresh raw material to be purchased for processing into tuna loins and savings to be passed on to the consumer as lower prices. The consumer receives a large economic benefit because air-flown tuna loins are much less expensive than tuna loins cut domestically from air-flown whole fish, due to the reduced airfreight cost of shipping loins.